Concrete construction.



R. H. ROBINSON.

CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION man SEPT. 5, 1901.

Patented May1 6,1916.

ROY HENRY ROBINSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION.

specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 16, i916.

Application iiled September 5, 1907. Serial No. 391,472.

To all whom t .may concern:

Be it known that I, RoY HENRY ROBIN- I son, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of the city of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Concrete Constructions, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in concrete constructions and method fof prof ducing same., and refers more specifically to improvements in reinforced concrete wall constructions.

Among the salient objects' of the present invention are to provide a method .of building such walls which dispenses with all preliminary temporary forms or supports-and enables the wall to be selfesu-pporting in all stages of erection; to provide a method of construction which, after the metallic reinforcements have been set, .dispenses with all highly skilled and expensive labor in the 'further .erection of the wall, without thereby hazarding the accuracy with which the work is done and the quality of the finished product; to provide a method of construction which enables successive layers or wall sections to be added one after another without any delay, such as is usually incident to waiting for the concrete to hardeng to provide a construction in which prefformed blocks are arranged to form facings in the finished wall, serve as the side walls or molds into which the concrete is filled during the process of erection and are finally bonded into the concrete,` to each other and tothe metallic reinforcements, in the completed wall; to provide a construction in which the main members of the met-al reinforcementsvide an improved method and construction of the character referred to.

Referring to the drawings-Figure l is a horizontal section of a portion of a wall constituting a preferred embodiment of my invention; the section being taken in the plane of the joint between horizontal tiers of facing blocks; Fig. 2 is a similar sectional view showing the manner in which a wall may be made to follow a curved line; Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional detail showing one manner of interengaging the facing blocks with one of the metallic reinforcements; Fig. 4 is a detail showing the manner in which the exterior angle of a corner may be constructed; Fig. 5 is another detail showing the manner in which the outer facing tiles are en gaged with one of the metallic reinforcements and at the same time form an externally convex wall face; Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional detail showing a modified construction in which the facing arches are of increased strength as compared with the other constructions shown.

The art of building reinforced concrete wallsas heretofore Agenerally practised has involved the preliminary erection of temporary molds or so-called boxings, into which the plastic concrete with its reinforcing additions is placed and confined until it hardens, after which the boxings are re-v moved or shifted to another position. Usually such walls are built up in horizontal tiers or sections, the boxings being raised for each tier or section, and in any event the boxings cannot be removed until the concrete has hardened sufficiently to sustain the weight of the next layer without danger of injuring it. Such a method of construction is obviously expensive in that it involves the use of these preliminary forms, and slow in that it can proceed only so fast as successive sections of the wall can harden.

It is desirable in many cases, if not usually, to provide concrete walls with facings of other material, and ornamental or plain tiles are now used widely as both outside and inside veneerings for building walls.

With these matters in mind, I have devised the method and construction constituting my present application, which method and construction will be now described.

Referring to the drawings, in Fig. l, a designates the facing tiles or blocks, which are ordinarily of terra cotta, and preferably have interior air spaces b. The inner sides of said blocks have projections, which are preferably of dove-tail or other undercut form in cross section, so as to afford a clenching hold or mechanical bond for the concrete which is placed between the facing formed of these blocks. B designates a series of upright metal reinforcing members, suitably spaced apart and preferably of fiange construction in cross section. The particular shape shown in all of the figures, except 4, is an I-beam, while in Fig. 4 I have shown an angle iron. These metallic reinforcements constitute a skeleton reinforcing frame, which serves preliminarily as a support upon which the facing tiles are mounted and which frame members are, in the finished wall, embedded in such manner as to constitute true reinforcements. The tile blocks a are so constructed as to be capable of being arranged in sets which interfit with each other and fit between adjacent uprights B; the outer ends of the end members of each set being notched in such manner as to interlock with the flanges of said reinforcements B. Each set of tiles, therefore, constitutes in effect a flat arch extending from reinforcement to reinforcement. As a further feature of improvement, which may be dispensed with if desired, the uprights B are united or bonded together' by metal rods or wires extended through the wall from one upright to another on the opposing side and then back zigzag fashion, thus forming in effect connecting stirrups C which serve to bond together the opposite sides of the wall and form a trussed wall. The concrete filling D is filled into the space between the two facings in such manner as to completely occupy such space and to embed those portions of the upright reinforcements which are exposed within the hollow space, as well as the connecting stirrups or trusses C.

rThe method of erecting a wall of this construction'may be briefiy described as follows: first the upright skeleton frame members B are erected and secured accurately in their final positions; next one or more tiers of tile blocks are fitted between each adj acent p air of metallic uprights at each of the two sides of the wall, the uprights enabling the tiles to be accurately placed in position and firmly held in their properly adjusted positions. Having thus built up the facings to a height of one or more tiers, the concrete is filled in and tamped so as to completely occupy all of the spaces between the facings and so as to effectually embed those portions of the metal reinforcements which are exposed at the inner sides o-f the facings. This step obviously unites the three main components of the wall into an integral whole. The connecting bonds or truss members C, when these are used, will be placed in position at suitable vertically separated intervals before the concrete is filled in and preferably after the facings have been raised to the height at which the truss member is to be located.

The form of construction shown in Fig. 2, and the method of erecting the same, are substantially the same as that just described, the only difference being that the skeleton frame members are so set as to define a sinuously curved or zig-zag wall and lthe tile blocks which are used for the facings being each slightly curved so as to produce the curved outline desired.

In detail Fig. 3 I have shown how one of the tile blocks may be provided with a specially shaped notch intermediate its length at its inner side for engagement with the flange of the metallic reinforcement. This notch is wide enough to admit the head of the I-beam and is undercut at one side so that after it has been placed in position against the reinforcement it can be interlocked with the latter by being shifted endyvise into the position shown.

Fig. 4 shows a desirable construction at an exterior corner of the wall; an angle bar B being best suited for this purpose, and the contiguous tile interlocked therewith in an obvious and clearly shown manner.

In Fig. 5 I have shown in detail how two contiguous tiles, that is the end members of two arches, may be interlocked with an upright reinforcing member of I-beam form and arranged to extend at an angle to each other so as to produce a wall which is exteriorly convex or bent.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a modified construction in which the strength of the fiat arches formed by the sets of tiles between contiguous upright lmetallic reinforcements is increased by making the tile blocks of increasing thickness from each end of the arch toward the center thereof, and have further enhanced the strength of the construction by making the tile blocks with oblique meeting faces and the-center member key-shaped so that the arch as a whole is a keyed arch.

From the foregoing it will be readily understood that the invention in both of its aspects is not limited to the specific details shown and described.

I claim as my invention:

\ In a composite wall, the combination of two parallel spaced-apart rows of'comparatively heavy metal studs, the studs of one row eing staggered in relation to the studs of the opposite row, pre-formed blocks applied side by side and one above the other between said studs and interlocking with each other and with the outer sections of said studs to inclose the space between the rows, continuous metal reinforcing rods connecting together said studs, and cementitious material filling the space between said blocks and embedding the inner sections of said studs to intimately bond together said 10 blocks and studs to form a solid integral wall structure.

ROY HENRY ROBINSON. Witnesses:

PHILIP C. PECK, ARTHUR C. SHERIDAN.

Copies ot this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C. 

